Air-moistening device.



F. F. BAHNSON.

AER MOlSTENiNG DEVICE.

APPLxcATloN FILED MAR. 26, 19,11.

LQMASQ; Patented Jan.22,1918.

@a WM @M y Vse FREDERIC E'. BAHNSON, 0F WINSTON-SLEM, NORTH CAROLINA.

AIR-MOSTENING DEVICE.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led March 26, 1917. Serial No. 157,415. 4

To all whom it may concern:

y Be it known that l, FREDERIC F. BAHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winston-Salem, in the county of Forsyth and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new Aand useful lmprovements in Air-Moistening Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an attachment to an ordinary hot-air house furnace, whereby the air circulating through the house is suifably mixed with water vapor in order to regulate the humidity of the air in the rooms.

lit is the object of this invention to e'ect this result by drawing the hot-air from the.

top of the furnace into a separate chamber, to which a humidifier is connected, and then return the mixture of air and water vapor to the air chamber of the furnace at a point between the house pipes and the cold air inlet, whence it passes to the house.

lt is a further object of the invention to provide means whereby any sound caused by the operation of the humidifying device is prevented from communicating itself throughout the fhouse.

T he invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a perspective view of the devicey as attached to a house hot-air furnace;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the moistening chamber and humidifier showing the connections therebetween and showing in addition means for preliminarily heating the water before it enters the humidiier.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the furnace showing the connection of the pipes from the moistening chamber to the hot-air chamber of the furnace.

As illustrated in the drawings theapparaf tus comprises an ordinary hot-air furnace having the usual fire-box 1. chimney-pipe 2, hot-air chamber 3, cold-air inlet 4, and house pipes 5. Connected tov the top of the hot-air chamber 3. is a pipe 6 leading thence to the top of a moistening chamber 7. From i each side of the bottom of chamber 7 pipes 8 lead back to the air-chamber 3 of the furnace, and connect therewithat a point substantially midway between the house pipes 5 and the cold-air inlet 4. The moistening chamber 7 is mounted on standards 9 separate from the furnace, and the pipes 6 and A8 have sections 6 and-8', respectively, of a 'mounted on standards 12 and is preferably one in which an electric motor 13 drives a disk 1a to which water is fed by pump 15 from a tank 16 and from which the water is thrown by centrifugal force onto blades 17, where it is mechanically atomized and then floats out into the atmosphere vin the form of a fine spray er inist. The divided water. is carried along by the cnrrent of het air either as such or as absorbed vapor and is forced through pipes 3 to the hot-air chamber 3 of the furnace.

rihe humidiier is connected te moisn f tening chamber 7 merely by means of a tienible sheet 19 of rubber packing or the like which extends from the back o'; the humidifier case 17 to 'the edges of orifice 1@ and makes the connection air-tight but at the same time prevents any vibration of the motor being communicated to the rest of the apparatus. rlhe bottom of the moistening chamber 7 is inclined and has a water-sealed drain 21 therein connecting with the tank 16. The pump 15 in the tank 16 is driven through-a shaft 24 connected with the shaft 25 of the motor 13, and forces water from the tank 16 through pipe 26 to chamber 27 and from there the water Hows through pipe 28 to the center of the disk 14. Instead of the arrangement shown, the pump may be located above the water level of the tank and may be driven by belt from shaft 25 of motor 13. As shown in Fig. 2, the pipe 26 may be connected with a heating coil 29 situated within the chamber 3 near the top thereof and a pipe 30 may lead from coil 29 to the chamber 27. rl`his provides means whereby the water may be preliminarily heated by the hot air from the furnace before reaching the humidifier. The tank 16 is provided with an inlet pipe 31 which may be connected with a water-supply, the How of watertherethrough being regulated by any suitable means, such as a ball and valve, not shown. ,The hot air is drawn from the top of the air-chamber 3 through pipe 6 by means of a fan 32 mounted in pipe 6 near its junction with the upper end of chamber 7.

Patenten aan. ea, taie. i

Theshaft 33 of fan 32 is driven from the shaft of motor 13 by means of a belt l34.

In the operation of the device a natural circulation is set up in the air-chamber 3 by the heat effect from the fire-box 1, which circulation causes air to pass into the coldair pipe 4, up through the air-chamber 3 and out through the house pipes 5. To introduce moisture into the air the .humidifier motor 13 is started, and with it fan 32 and,pump 15. The fan 32 draws hot air into pipe 6 and forces it into chamber 7, where it is blown over the finely-divided spray of water thrown off from the humidifier, quickly evaporates it, and carries it along through pipes 8 back to the air-chamber 3,

l where: the moistened air is thoroughly mixed with the rising current of hot air in airchamber 3. AThe pipes 8 are introduced into the furnace at a point between the cold-air inlet 4 and the house pipes 5, so that the natural circulation is noty appreciably impeded, the moist air being carried along up the chamber and out pipes '5. v

l By suitably adjusting the speed of the fan 32 to the conditions ofuse it has been found that the4 house'A circulation is not affected and vet the relative humidlty has` been raised from a proximately 38 per cent.

to 52 per cent. in a out half an hour, evaporating vabove two quarts of Water in` that time. This makes the room air much mpre pleasant and healthful. The advantage of the use of a mist of water vapor rather than` steam is that the temperature of such vapor l is alwaysmuch less thanthat of the hot air and, therefore, there is no tendency for the vapor to condense, but when'steam 1s v used it is much higher in temperature than 40 the hot air with which it mixes, so .that a condensation on-colder surfaces is likely to result. Moreover, the heaviness and closeness of the air in a room humidifiedby steam-jets is very perceptible.

, The transmission of .vibration from the apparatus to the house pipe system is eliminated, first, by the provision of the lsounddeadening sections 6 and 8 in the pipes leading from the chamber 7 to the furnace; secondly, by the separate mountin ofthe chamber 7 and humidifier; and thirdly, by the fiexible connection 19 between the humidifier and the chamber 7.

I. claim:

1. VThe combination with a hot air fur- I nace, of a humidifier and means for abstracting heated air from the furnace, subjecting it to the action of the humidifier and returningl it to the furnace in humidified condition.

2. The combination with a hot air fur.- nace, of a humidifier, means for abstracting heated air from the furnace, subjecting it to the action of the humidifier and returning it to the furnace in humidified condition humidication.

and means inY the path of the humidifi'ed air for draining olf the moisture held iny unstable suspension.

3. The combinationv with a hot air furnace, of a humidifier, and means for establishing an air circuit independently of the air distributing pipes, said circuit including the hot air casing and the said humidifier.

4. The combination with a hot air' furl nace, of a humidifier, means for establishing an air circuit independently ofthe air distributing pipes, said circuit including `the hot air,casing .andl the said humidifier,

the lhot air casing and the said humidifier,

and means for controlling the degree of `6. The combination with a hot air furnace, of a humidifier, means for establishing an air circuit independently of `the air distributing pipes, said circult including the hot air casing and the said humidifier,

and means in the said circuit for preliminarilv heating the feed-water for said humidifier. v

7. lA device for moistening air comprisling a hot-air furnace, a hot-air circuit connected therewith comprising the hot-air chamber of the furnace, a moistening cham- -ber apart from the furnace, pipe connections Ieadng-toand from the air-chamber and the lmolstenlng chamber, means for vcausing a circulation of hot air through said circuit parallel to the natural hotair circuit vthrough the furnace, and means.

.in said moistening chamber for introducing a mist of water into the path of the hot air.

r8. A device for moistening air comprising a hot-air furnace, a hot-air circuit connected therewith comprising the. hot-air chamber of the furnace, a moistening chamber-apart from the furnace, pipe connections leading to and from the air-chamber and the moistening chamber. means for causing a circulation of hot air through said circuit parallel to the natural hot-air circuit through the furnace, means in said moisteningchamber for mechanically producing a mist of water in the path of the hot air, and means for preliminarily heat-- ing the water before it is .transformed into mist.

9. A device for moistening air comprising a furnace having a hot-air chamber, a cold-air inlet at the bottom of said air chamber, hot-air outlet at the top of said airchamber, a moistening chamber, a pipe connection from the top of'said air chamber-to /13'0 Weense v said moistening chamber, pipe connections from the mois/Lening chamber to the airchalnber, said pipes entering said air-chamber at a point between the cold air inlet and the hot-air outlet, means in said pipes for causing a circulation of hot air therethrough from the top of the air-chamber, and means in said moistening chamber for mechanically producing a mist of Water in the path of the hot air.

l0. A device for moistening aircomprising a hot-air furnace, a moistening chamber spaced apart therefrom and having an opening in one face thereof, pipe connec- '15 tions between the furnace and the moistening chamber, sections of sound-deadening material in said pipe connections, a humidifier projecting into an orifice in said moistening chamber, but spaced therefrom, said humidifier and moistening chamber being separatel)v mounted from each other and the furnace, and a. exible packing between the humidifier and the moistening chamber to close the connection therebetween.

In testimonywhereof I aiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

FREDERIC F. BAHNSON. \Vitnesses A. H. BAHNsoN, C. L. LEE CLATOR. 

